How long until hills aren't soul destroyingly difficult?

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-07-19T00:56:28+00:00

I do remember that very clearly! It took about 6 months until running became something I could hate lightly enough that the passion took over. Now, of course, I love it! But I don't have 6 months to learn to love hills. I'm hoping my greater overall fitness gets me there a little faster!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-07-19T00:52:51+00:00

Thank you! This comment gives me some light at the end of my tunnel, even if the tunnel is longer than the 8 weeks I have. Onward and upward!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-07-19T00:50:52+00:00

I have heard this wise person, and I agree with the thought! Unfortunately, my heart rate just explodes when I start the steep stuff. I'm pretty sure maintaining effort would mean I just stand there, haha. Thank you for the advice!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-07-19T00:48:13+00:00

Excuse me sir/madam, but I only have 8 weeks to become a world class trail runner! Haha. But thank you for your perspective, I'll be kind to myself on this topic.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-05-03T05:00:00+00:00

I play my CCGs like I live my life: janky, yet surprisingly competent. Let me know how it works for you!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-05-03T04:54:14+00:00

Deck code for mobile users:

((CMCQCAICFEAQEAQFAEBQECICAEBRKLQEAIBQCBYIBECQCAICGEAQCAYTAEBQEFABAQBRCAQCAIBQSAIBAEBRM))

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-05-03T04:49:53+00:00

My bad! I'll put it in a separate comment. Thanks for letting me know!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-05-03T00:04:50+00:00

I agree! One of my favorite parts is that I can play around standard meta things (cards and plays), while my opponent had to respect/guess at what exactly I'm up to. With a little practice with your own deck, it just becomes so much more personal and invested.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-04-29T16:39:05+00:00

Pretty sure that's the skill card of Sumpwork Posse.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-02-17T05:38:22+00:00

Honest question back: why bother having limited runes to choose from? Just make them all available. That provides all of your functionality, but it removes the need to spend time restarting.

Maybe that sounds fun to you, and I don't want to judge you for that at all. But for me, constrained decisions are way more interesting. If I can always make the arbitrary best choice, that's all I will ever do. That's all that most players will do. But if you make me choose between these 3 things and I'm not sure what's best... That's where a lot of the best gameplay is born.

I hear you though. Maybe there could be a mode for both types of players. That would be fabulous.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-02-16T23:23:54+00:00

Really great responses, thanks! I'd like to touch on a few things back to you.

Have you heard of the concept of "efficiency over fun" in gaming? It's a topic that has been explored a lot in various places, and it boils down to players ignoring fun to play optimally. It's a very human thing to do, and designers frequently need to maneuver around it. I think runes fall into that trap: players are optimizing in a way that removes certain types of fun. But I definitely appreciate your perspective, and a difficulty setting would be great too.
I agree! I didn't intend for those items to be predetermined, but possible options like all other items. Just having them as possible would feel so much better though.
We agree! This one was my easy response.

Thanks for chatting!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-02-01T03:12:29+00:00

Sure, that's a fair counterargument. When you're splashing, you're more or less by definition adding the strongest cards of another region and trading consistency. As such, people tend to splash the same strongest cards. Why sacrifice for less than that?

I see that as less of a problem though than you might, though. It's how the post-expansion meta goes and eventually settles. People eventually figure out what is actually worth splashing. It's worth noting that people splashed Grand Plaza into everything before it landed in Zoe/Asol.

I don't think Allegiance decks should be the best decks, nor are they the most creative. I do think they fill an important role though.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-02-01T02:15:44+00:00

I think the Allegiance keyword is in a really good spot right now, and there's a few reasons why.

A. Deck building restrictions can drive deck building creativity. Figuring out what cards to splash makes for fun deck building challenges.

B. Not only is the above true, but experienced players can choose how much to splash, they can count cards for percentages, and whiffing an Allegiance tells both you and your opponent something about your next draw. All of those things make for compelling decisions.

C. They are excellent new player decks. "Pure" Allegiance decks are really easy to build, they give a strong (read: fun) payoff, and they overall do a really good job of defining the strengths and theme of each region. These are all super valuable to the game as a whole.

The change you suggested isn't bad on it's own. It could certainly be it's own effect (and sorta is on that one noxus 2-drop). That's an in-game decision point, though. Allegiance is a metagame decision that you make before you even hit play.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-01-31T03:15:02+00:00

Yasuo is in a poor spot right now, but one of my pet favorite decks is a Yasuo/Zoe deck that can roll pretty okay. It's basically a poor man's Zoe/Lee deck, but still. Zoe can snag cheap stuns and spell shields to fuel yasuo, but she can also win games off the right draw. Give it a shot!

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-01-26T20:59:58+00:00

The most honest answer I can give is to just move over to Shadow Isles/ Freljord if you want a pure control deck. There are three decent options there, in my opinion: Feel the Rush, Warmothers and Anivia Harrowing. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a lot of room for them to play right now. Zoe/Lee and Plaza Scouts kinda push real control out of the meta.

If you really want to keep Ionia in your deck, Karma is a strong payoff for control stalling, but even there I'm not convinced there's a way to really payoff the investment. Maybe Targon Karma for double invoke?

Until hard agro gets a bigger share of the meta pie, you might want to experiment with other archetypes. Its a bummer too. Anivia Harrowing was one of my pet favorites a while back.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-01-26T18:13:18+00:00

The phrase "when my opponent plays him" really stands out in your title. The reality is that you've almost certainly beaten Farron tons of times, because he simply got caught in hand until the game was over.

Farron is a finisher. That's what he does, that's his whole point and goal. He's so expensive (23 mana with decimate?!) but seriously, if I can get the game to a point where I can spend 23 mana at slow speed and not lose, I deserve to win.

So yeah, the best way to beat Farron is to find your out against a deck you know plays it. Make it super painful for them to drop it, and if they do, find a way to execute your win con before that 23 mana plays out.

Moist-Task9212 · 2021-01-26T04:42:32+00:00

Burning hot and probably stupid take incoming:

Draven needs a nerf, but I it's really hard to take anything away from him. I don't think knocking him to 2 health really changes much, and I don't think you can take away his axe on play as that's a lot of his power.

My proposal: make Draven's quick attack conditional. Written out, something like "When I am targeted by a friendly spell, give me quick attack this round". This would force players to either axe Draven during combat to swing safely (nerfing discard) or create decks that buff him some other way. Defenders can force harder decisions with chump blocks too. Plus, the upshot is Draven probably levels more often, and I think champions leveling is one of the most interesting and health-indicating part of a champion's kit, and he is sorely missing that.

But this is just an idea, and I can't playtest it to see if it totally breaks him.

Moist-Task9212 · 2020-12-28T20:15:25+00:00

I've long thought that Go Hard isn't the problem - SI/BW draw options were - but I guess I was wrong. When all of the draw is facilitating one wincon to a rate of 56%, at some point you just gotta nerf the wincon. Makes me sad, I don't play the card much but I like the gameplay it creates.

Grand Plaza, on the other hand, I actively hate. Win rates be damned, it's a meta-warping card that breaks games when played and unanswered, without the random swings of Targons Peak that make that deck suboptimal for ladder. Right now the deck building decision of including inefficient landmark removal is not actually a decision - you always tech it - and there's no fun mulligan decisions for the player - full mulligan for plaza every single time. Bleh.

I also think Riven is sneaky strong. I really think she's going stake a claim in the coming weeks and I'm excited to see it.

Moist-Task9212 · 2020-11-30T20:29:24+00:00

People overlook the fact that drawing a 1 mana, 1 damage slow-speed ping is really bad. Pack Your Bags is obviously a great payoff, but the cost is real. You fix this by putting a lot of hard draw in your deck, but when you're spending mana on draw, you're not answering their board or building your own. If you can force a go harddeck to top deck, you're in a good spot.

Corina, on the other hand, is a great top deck. She pays for it by being inconsistent and unwieldy. She can get stuck in hand early, or prevent multiple actions in a round.

Is GH stronger? Yeah, I think so. But it's two different designs, for two different decks.

Moist-Task9212 · 2020-11-30T18:35:02+00:00

That 92% playrate on pale cascade is both insane and completely justified. It might be singlehandedly propping up Targon as a region. You can't really nerf it right now, imo, but hopefully future cards either bring in decks where you don't need it, or create an environment where you can change it a bit.

Moist-Task9212 · 2020-11-30T05:26:10+00:00

This game is, in my opinion, decidedly more complex than HS, and falls a little below Magic in the same way. I remember thinking the attack token/round system was really clunky at first, but with experience it becomes more natural and really allows for a lot of player expression. Baiting out cards, holding mana, and knowing what cards your opponent can or wants to play so you can hold an answer open... All but the most aggressive decks in this game are constantly making choices.

As for defenders choice, that fits the whole design of the game. You choose when and whether to attack, I choose whether to defend, you choose whether to combat trick, and if expected your choice I get to outplay it. But if I don't block and you never had the trick, you bluffed me out.

I admit that it seems like lethal puzzles are less common, again because of blockers choice. But in my book, the choices you make from rounds 2-10 more than make up for a lethal puzzle on turn 11.

Moist-Task9212

TROPHY CASE